Random synaptic and kiln firings of a glass obsessive who also plays with pointy sticks

Archive for January, 2013

So, yes, a whole new year. And no posts for months. Mostly, because if every post is novella-length, it’s hard to find the time to sit down and write one (and also hard to justify taking that time). But maybe I should just check in a bit more often, with not quite so many words, and perhaps a few more pictures? All the more so, given that what I’ve been doing is fairly photogenic. I have changed my spinning wheel (and acquired a second one) and done a lot of spinning in the months since I left this poor blog for dead. (There may be a correlation here, of course, because spinning is both distracting, and often feels somewhat more productive than throwing lots – and lots, and lots – of words into the gigantic Black Hole of the Internet).

So, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll introduce the wheels today, and then jump back into a bit more posting from next week. First, my very lovely Majacraft Suzie Pro, Thompson:

How he came to be called Thompson is both very simple, and something of a mystery. Hs predecessor never had a name, but it was clear from the outset that this wheel – this beautiful thoroughbred – was going to be needing one. We batted names around for a few days, and each suggestion was too arch, or too abstruse, or just too plain wrong. And then, the Middle Child suddenly said, “Why, that’s Thompson!” and it was so random, and so perfect, and so clearly correct that I went with it. I also, very resolutely didn’t ask where the name had come to her from (the answer could only be a disappointment). Anyway, he and I have been getting along famously ever since, and I’ve been gradually purchasing all the bells and whistles (and extra bobbins) a wheel could possibly want (OK, not quite. The ideal number of bobbins is probably infinite. But we have a lot. And they’re big.)

And here – briefly – is the other wheel, a pretty little Haldane Shetland. This was spotted in a charity shop by a friend of mine, who kindly alerted me to it and I immediately rushed over and bought it. A very small amount of TLC was needed (and provided, handily, and generously by the dazzlingly competent husband of a friend who volunteered him for the job), but now that too is up and running sweetly. I wanted a wheel I could transport and demo with, and let other people have a go on, and not be precious about, and this is perfect. Unlike Thompson, it’s lightweight, and easy to transport, all the more so with the (in)famous Haldane “design feature” of falling-off legs.

Next time, maybe, a round-up of some of the pretty handspun handknits. But not today, because my New Year’s Blog resolution is little and often rather than sparse and overwhelming.